


The Queen of Hearts

by sunalso



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Card Games, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, enteral nutrition, mental trauma, mute character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 16:34:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16790626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunalso/pseuds/sunalso
Summary: Post S5 AU. Robbie comes back from hell broken. Daisy does her best to take care of him, but she’s fighting her own demons. Remembering how to smile is never easy.Beta'd by Gort.





	The Queen of Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [soulofevil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofevil/gifts).



> Written for the Agents of Shield Rarepair Exchange 2018 for @soulofevil 
> 
> _A/N: Written during the hiatus between S5 and S6. As this is from Daisy's POV, she's still recovering from everything herself and not always charitable in her thoughts._

Daisy was lonely.

She sat down on the edge of her bunk and worked on wiggling her shoes off.

That wasn’t anything new, but right now it felt like a thorn in her side. A constant pain she couldn’t dig out. Mack had SHIELD to run, and Elena was his right hand, they were always busy. May was off doing whatever she needed to do, now that Coulson... Jemma had been company until they’d found Fitz and while Daisy couldn’t exactly begrudge them their time together, Jemma and Fitz really didn’t seem to be able to conceptualize there were still actual other people that existed in the world and that those people might like to talk instead of watching them grope each other like teenagers. 

It wasn’t fair.

Daisy had lost and lost and lost. Ward had never actually been hers, but he’d betrayed her and whatever they might have been together had been destroyed with that. Lincoln had gone out in a blaze of glory, leaving her shattered and unable to pick up the pieces. Robbie hadn’t belonged to her either, but he’d started to help her rebuild. Only then, ‘poof’, he’d been gone too.

Tossing her shoes away, she sprawled back on her unmade bed. Sleep was probably going to be as elusive as always, not that it was that much better than being awake as the inevitable nightmares always showed up. The most common one was her wandering room to room, knowing she’d forgotten to do something but not being able to remember what it was, only that it’d been important, and now everyone was dead because she hadn’t remembered. Their glassy eyes would stare accusingly at her. If only she’d done more, been better, then everything would be okay.

Daisy put an arm over her eyes and sighed. She should go to medical, but explaining to whoever was there that she needed something to help her sleep sounded even more exhausting because this late there was a zero chance Jemma would still be there. Daisy hated her a little at that moment, thinking of Jemma wrapped up in the arms of someone she loved. Not alone in an empty room.

“Screw her,” Daisy mumbled. Vodka was an option, and it didn’t ask questions. Robbie’s disapproving face appeared in her mind's eye. “Oh, screw you too.” She rolled onto her stomach.

A klaxon blared out, shrill and sharp.

Daisy was up and out her door before she remembered her shoes, but it would take too long to go back for them. She ran down the hallway in her socks, opening the door to the emergency stairs to find Mack just coming down them.

“Something’s going on in one of the empty storage bays,” he said, waving at her to follow him.

They descended in a rush, Daisy gritting her teeth as the rough surface of the concrete stairs bit into the soles of her feet. When they reached the right level, Mack pushed the door open and they walked into a confused mess of people talking. The room itself stretched away into darkness. Nothing was visible.

“Report,” Mack barked at Fitz-Simmons, who were huddled together and frowning at a tablet. They looked like they’d gotten dressed in the dark, with Fitz’s shirt being miss-buttoned and Jemma in pajama pants and what had to be one of Fitz’s undershirts.

Fitz tapped something on the tablet. “There’s a cloud of oddly charged subatomic particles, unknown origin, emanating from a single point, their spin—”

“Can we skip to the part where you tell me what you mean in English?” Mack said, rubbing his temple. Elena appeared at his side, her face set with lines of worry.

“Something’s coming through,” Jemma said softly. “And we don’t know what it is, or from where.”

Mack glanced around at the crowd of agents. “Fitz-Simmons, Elena, Daisy, you stay. Everyone else, get out. Evacuate to the top levels. Davis, you’re in charge. Keep in contact. We may need to get people out of here fast.”

Davis nodded and herded the onlookers towards the stairs and elevator. When they were gone, the quiet was eerie. Daisy turned towards the distant spot of floor Fitz-Simmons were focused on. She tried to get a read on the vibrations. At first, she felt nothing, but then it was like a summer breeze washing over her, warm and gentle.

“Uh-oh,” Fitz muttered, backing up and putting an arm in front of Jemma.

The breeze of soft vibrations turned into a hurricane. It was painful as it pelted Daisy’s skin. She cried out and stumbled back, Elena running to grab her arm.

“Daisy?”

“I can feel it,” Daisy gasped, fighting to stay upright.

“Brace!” Jemma called, turning her face into Fitz’s chest.

There was a blinding flash, electricity crackled, and the scent of sulfur filled the air. Daisy held a hand up to block the light. Her skin felt like it was being grated against by the relentless vibrations.

Darkness descended, and everything became still. There were residual flashes of light, and she blinked to clear her vision. Something dark was in a heap on the floor, wisps of smoke curling upwards to disappear into the gloom overhead.

“Oh!” Jemma gasped. She let go of Fitz, who grabbed her. He missed and ended up hurrying after her instead.

The lump on the ground rolled over.

It was human.

Jemma went to her knees beside the person, and her fingers darted to his throat. “Strong pulse, and he’s breathing on his own,” she said.

Daisy glanced at Mack, who wasn’t moving, his face worried.

Fitz was standing beside Jemma, frowning down at the figure. “Robbie?”

****

Daisy was sitting in the med bay beside Robbie. He was awake, his eyes open, but he hadn’t responded to anyone or anything yet. Even her. His gaze occasionally flicked in her direction, but he didn’t turn his head.

It’d been two days since he’d appeared in the Lighthouse, his body covered in gashes and bones snapped like kindling. He’d healed a great deal since then, which let them know he was still the Ghost Rider, but he didn’t communicate. Or eat. Or move.

Jemma had knocked him out to do some stitching and taping of his wounds and had directed Piper to slip a thin tube down his nose into his stomach. A pump was pushing food and water into him through it, and Daisy was extremely grateful for it.

With a new plastic bottle of the tube feeding in hand, Jemma bustled into the room. Robbie closed his eyes. “How’s our patient doing?” she asked. There was a new hickey peeking over the collar of her blouse. Daisy wanted to punch her. Robbie was lying shattered in a hospital bed, and Jemma was still banging her boyfriend like it didn’t matter that another human being was this broken.

Daisy huffed. It wasn’t fair of her to think Jemma didn’t care. Jemma always cared. It was just the signs of her happiness that Daisy couldn’t stand, not when she was trapped so far on the opposite side of joy she couldn’t remember what happy felt like.

Jemma’s smile faltered at the non-response.

“Daisy,” she said evenly. “Robbie has been through something very traumatic. I know you’ve been struggling, but sometimes we have to put our own hurts aside to do what’s best for others.” Daisy nearly snapped something about how Jemma didn’t understand, but that wasn’t fair either. Jemma had squished down so much pain over the years that it was a wonder she could still smile without the hurt leaking out from between her teeth.

Daisy stood. “I’m not you. I can’t be Ms. Congeniality when I feel like shit.”

“At least talk to him. His mind is probably worse off than his body was.”

“Oh, right. I remember when you stayed right beside Fitz when he was struggling after the bottom of the ocean.” Daisy mentally winced. Talk about not fair.

Jemma’s face hardened. “I still think Robbie would appreciate hearing from you more than me.” She shoved the tube feeding into Daisy’s hands and spun on her heel, hunching over as she retreated from the room. Daisy knew she should probably feel bad but didn’t have the energy for it.

She turned to look at Robbie. His eyes were open again, and they looked reproachful, even if his face was the same slack mask as always.

“Don’t start with me,” she said. “I know she didn’t deserve that, but I’m mad. She got Fitz back, and he was fine. I get you back, and it’s like the universe gave me a Robbie -shaped pet rock.” She sighed and walked to the head of the bed where the pump for the feeding was.

Robbie’s eyes tracked her.

“Hey, you checking me out Reyes?” she asked. Nothing about him changed, exactly, but she knew he was exasperated with her. “I know I look super sexy right now in these yoga pants and t-shirt. I haven’t showered since you got back, either, so I bet I smell great too. How can you resist?”

Robbie kept looking at her.

“I’m such a catch,” she said, turning her attention to the pump. “You can’t see this, but there’s a kangaroo logo on this pump. Like marsupials make it better that you’re being fed this crap. And I could lie about how this is chocolate milk, or your steak and potatoes.” She paused the pump and took down the mostly empty bottle that was hanging. “Or maybe the best tamales you’ve ever had.” She removed the tube from the line and grimaced at the scent, quickly attaching the new bottle. “But it’s really, really not. It smells like soy milk and hot dogs that went through a blender.”

Robbie’s face was the same, but his gaze continued to follow her as she returned to her chair.

“Don’t you laugh at me, mister. I am so not a doctor. Or nurse. Or someone who’s watched more than two episodes of _Grey’s Anatomy_.”

Had Robbie’s brow twitched? Damn it, fuck, why did Jemma always have to be right?

“But don’t worry, I can still take care of you. Just don’t expect me to turn into Florence Nightingale.” The silence that had been between them for two days felt like too much now that she’d started talking. Only there wasn’t a ton to say. “How about we watch TV? There probably wasn’t a lot of that wherever you were. Unless there was like a whole hell that was nothing but endless _Judge Judy_ reruns. That would be my choice for, like, people that cut in front of you in line.” She found the remote and moved the screen so it pointed at Robbie. “If someone pisses me off, they get nothing but _Judge Judy_ for eternity.”

She clicked on the TV and found one of those shows where people were fixing up cars.

Sliding her fingers over to where Robbie’s were lying limply on the bed, she held them loosely. “I bet you’d be so much better than these losers.”

Daisy was almost certain his thumb twitched.

****

It took weeks, but Robbie eventually started moving around, getting out of bed, thankfully showering, and eating food not delivered through a tube.

It wasn’t official, but Daisy seemed to be on permanent Robbie duty, which she didn’t mind.

It’d gotten easier to talk to him, even if he never spoke back.

He was living in her quarters now, which had nearly taken an act of Congress for Jemma to agree too, but in the end, he’d been too healthy for sickbay and too unresponsive to be left by himself.

Jemma thought he was severely mentally traumatized and had retreated behind a wall of silence to deal with it. When Mack had proposed finding a therapist, Robbie had stood up and gone to stand in the corner of the room, his eyes closed.

Daisy had gone to him and promised that they wouldn’t force him to, but to let them know if he changed his mind. He’d sat in a chair and not moved for the rest of the day, and she’d hadn’t brought it up again.

Maybe they were just meant to be quiet now.

The morning had started like any other. Robbie slept on a cot tucked against the wall, and she’d woken him up and had him shower. Hair still wet, he’d taken the clothes she’d handed him and mechanically began dressing. Daisy knew to turn her back. Robbie didn’t seem to care much about whether or not he was nude at the moment. It was tempting to look because he still had all those muscles. 

Daisy bit her lip when his towel hit the floor. Very tempting. But it wasn’t the time for that sort of thing.

When he finished, she had him sit at the small table in her room while she combed his hair.

“You’re getting shaggy,” she told him, running her fingers through his dark hair. “I’ll get a pair of scissors and trim it soon.”

Robbie glanced up at her.

“Hey! I’ll do fine. I’ll ask Mack for tips.”

Robbie narrowed his gaze before turning back around. He still hadn’t smiled. He frowned, grimaced, sighed, did things with his eyebrows, but he was never happy.

At first, it hadn’t bothered her, because she was seldom happy either, but at some point, it had gotten to be personal. She was going to make him smile again. Maybe then it would be okay for her to smile too.

After getting him presentable, which he could probably do on his own but which she liked helping with, and having a small breakfast along with coffee, Daisy had the same problem as every day: what should they do?

The TV was usually okay, though she only watched boring shows with him since she didn’t know what would bother him. Or maybe nothing would after all he’d seen. It’d been enough to splinter his mind, after all, and Robbie was one of the strongest people she knew.

The Rider had also been silent. A few times she’d seen flames lick along Robbie’s fingers, but that was it. She hoped it understood that Robbie needed to heal. Otherwise, it was going to have a hell of a fight on its hands. No pun intended.

“What about a game today?” she asked. “Go fish?” He glared at her. “Fine. I didn’t want your first words to be ‘do you have a three’ anyway. How about we play solitaire?” She scooted a chair around beside Robbie, shuffled the cards, and laid out the deck. To play, they switched off turning a card upright and placing it either on the discard pile or placing it where it needed to go. It was slow and clunky, but it was one of Daisy’s favorite things to do with him because they sat next to each other and worked together.

Robbie was expressionless for the first few cards.

“Do you want me to email Gabe yet?” she asked. It was a question she asked every day.

Robbie shook his head. The same response as always. Daisy had looked up Gabe’s Instagram and shown Robbie pictures of him with friends at his University. Robbie had reached out and touched Gabe’s face on the screen, then gone and laid on his cot to stare at the wall. She hoped there were some good memories rattling around inside his head while he’d lain there stiff as a board. She’d covered him with a blanket and sat beside the bed for a long time.

“Someday you’re going to want to,” she said, trying to project confidence. “I know you think Gabe will be mad, and he probably will be since you up and disappeared, but I think he’ll also be overjoyed to see you. Like I was.”

Robbie sighed.

Daisy flipped over a card. “Four of clubs.” She set it on the five of diamonds. “Go me.” Robbie didn’t reach for the next card. “Your turn,” she said, nudging his arm. Instead of getting the card, he stood and walked to her dresser, returning holding the photograph from there. It was an old one, showing the team altogether at a party. He tapped the glass over the photo, pointing out Coulson. “You know what happened to him,” Daisy grumbled.

Robbie smacked her arm and pointed at her.

“What?” Her insides were churning. She didn’t like to even think about what she’d lost. Robbie looked heavenward and tapped the glass over Coulson’s face again, then pointed to Daisy. “You…want me to talk about him?”

Robbie nodded once.

Daisy set the photo on the table.

“He’s gone. Like everyone else. Did you know my real dad doesn’t remember I exist?” Robbie shook his head and flipped over a card. Six of spades. It went on the discard pile. “Yeah, there was this whole thing. My mom tried to kill me, my dad killed her, he got his memory erased. Not that he was a big force in my life before then. Except by being absent.” She sighed. “Poor Daisy,” she said, her voice mocking. “No one stays with her. Not her real parents. Not her foster parents. Not the Dad she always wished she’d had. Not her boyfriends. Not even her friends. They’re all wrapped up in their lives now and don’t need me unless I have to quake something.” The table shook for a heartbeat before she got control.

Robbie turned toward her and picked up her hand, putting it on his cheek.

“Oh, yeah, you came back. Good for you.” She looked into his dark eyes. “I don’t know why. And you won’t tell me! Fuck, Robbie.” Something snapped in her chest. “I care about you. That’s why I’m doing all this. Because I missed you. I miss so many people, and you came back, and I don’t know why.” She ran a hand over her face and wiped at her eyes before letting it fall to her lap, the sound loud in the room.

Robbie picked up a handful of the cards on the table and frantically shuffled through them. Since her quaking had already messed up their game, she didn’t mind. But she didn’t know what he was doing, which seemed par for the course lately.

Grabbing her arm, Robbie stood and dragged her along with him. He pushed a card into her hand, then walked to his cot and lay down, staring at the wall.

Daisy dropped her eyes to the card in her hand. She ran her finger over the glossy back before slowly turning it over.

The queen of hearts.

Fuck.

He’d come back for her. She knew it without a doubt. He’d fought through unimaginable hell to come back to her.

Dropping the card back on the table she walked over to where he was and sat beside him and put a hand on his arm.

It wasn’t enough.

Kicking off her shoes, she lay down behind Robbie and spooned against his back. He was all hard muscle, which would have been nice if he wasn’t so tense. Daisy slid her hand under his shirt and pushed her palm against his warm, smooth back.

She nuzzled her face into his neck, his scent clean and masculine. Her other arm went around him, and she softly stroked his face.

“Robbie, I don’t know what you’ve been through. At all. And it scares me, but my life has never been sunshine and unicorns either. It’s often my own, personal hell. But you’re here. I’m so glad you’re here. We can get through this together. Rescue each other, right? I want to go out to dinner with you and have everyone be jealous of my handsome boyfriend, and we could visit Gabe so we can tease him about being an honor student, even though he’d know you’re really super proud of him. We could sit in the sun on a beach all day and fight crime together at night. You and me…and sometimes the Rider because let’s face it, it’s a part of you. And I’m okay with that, as long as it doesn’t take you away again. We can make our own little heaven. What do you say?”

Her finger ran along his nose and dropped to his lips. Slowly, one side of his mouth curled upwards.

Robbie was smiling.

Hope welled up in her chest. He was smiling.

“It’s like the game. We can be solitary together. Two people figuring things out as they go along.”

Robbie rolled over to face her. He kissed her forehead and put an arm around her as she cuddled against his chest.

Daisy felt him relax, his breath tickling her hair as he let out a long sigh. “When you’re ready,” she said. “I’m going to give you the biggest hickey, so everyone knows you’re mine.”

Robbie snorted, and when she opened her eyes, she found him smiling again.

She’d never seen anything more beautiful.


End file.
